Electric stop for phonographs



March 25 1924. ,488,428

W. R. DUNCAN' ELEcTRIc STOP Fon PHoNoGRAPHs Patented Mar. 25, 1924.

, y 1,488,428 Param lcuir-Fics..

WILLIAM R. DUNCAN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

ELECTRIC STOP FOR PHONOGRAPHS.

Application led February 1, 1923. Serial No. 616,335.

To all whom t may concer/n.'

Be it lrnown that I, I/VILLIAM R. DUNCAN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State ofIllinois, have invented certain new Vandy useful Improvements inElectric Stops for Phonographs, of which the following is aspecification.

'This invention relates to automatic electrically operated stoppingmechanism for phonographs or talking machines and while certain featuresthereof may be adapted for general application, it is particularlyintended for use in connection with the Edison phonograph. In this typeof phonograph there is a floating weight which forms a part of vthereproducer and when the stylus reaches the end of the groove in therecord the vfree end of the weight is raised and moves laterally to oneside or has a swinging movement on its vertical axis. This lmovement iscomparatively slight and cannot always be depended upon in the normaloperation of the device, for actuating an Aordinary switch or stopreleasing mechan1sm.

The principal object of this invention is to provide an electric stopfor Edison phonographs which may be relied upon and which will beefficient in operation. Other objects are to provide auxiliary means forensuring the closing of an electric switch by the lateral movement ofthe floating weight; to provide an electric stop mechanism of thischaracter which may be attached without finsulating the floating weight;to provide "means for multiplying the movement of the floating weightwhereby an electric switch maybe satisfactorily operated;,and in generalto provide such improved features and advantages as will appear morefully from the following description.

In the accompanying'drawings illustrating this invention:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a phonograph with parts broken away to showthe stop mechanism; Figure 2 is a side view with parts broken away toshow theinterior construction;

` Figure 3 is an enlarged detail showing my improved switch mechanism asapplied tothe reproducer; and

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 3. v Intheparticular lform of invention as shown in these drawings, a phonograph 5is provided with a motor plate 6 and a turntable 7 for supporting therecord 8. It is also, of course, provided with the necessary motor andother parts but as these form no part*r of the present invention, theyare not illustrated. The electric brake 9 which may be of any ordinaryvor preferred form vof construction, is mounted on the plate 6. Thebrakeshownvhas a ,brake'lever 10 which is pivoted at 11 and extends'outbeyond the edge of the turntable 7 where it is provided with a brake 12which 'is adapted to engage with the outer edge of the table forstopping the same. This lever'is provided with a handle 13 for swingingit to adjusted position. A spring 14 tends to draw the lever 10 so thatthe brake 12 will engage with the table. A spring catch 15 has a slot 16for engagement with the pin 17 to which'the spring 14 is attached. Thenthe catch 15 is in the position shown in Figure 1 it will hold the lever10 in adjusted position but when' the catch is moved to the right thelever is vreleased and will be drawn forward by the'spring 14. A magnet18 is arranged adjacent to the catch 15 and Vis adapted, when energized,to draw the catch forward to release the lever. One end of the magnetcoil is connected to an insulated terminal 19 which is adapted to beengaged by a spring rcontact 2O on the lever 10 when the lever is indisengaged position. This forms a ground connection for'one terminal ofthe magnet, but when the lever swings forward the contact is broken atthis point. The other terminal isconnected by wire. or conductor 21 to abattery 22. The other terminal ofmthis battery is connected by aconductor 23 with a contact or terminal 24 which forms one part of theelectric switch which is associated with the sound box or reproducer 25.This reproducer is of the type used on the Edison talking machines andhas a floating weight 26 which is pivotally mounted on a vertical pivot27 so that its free end may swing laterally. This end is provided withthe usual stop pin 28 which engages with a loop or keeper 29 to limitthe movement of these parts with respect to each other.

At the rear end of the reproducer I mount a bracket or support 30 havinga bottom plate 31 and side walls 32. The side walls are continuedforwardlyA to form arms 33 which engage with the sides ofthe reproducerand these arms are connected bycross braces 34 and 35 which engage withthe end of the reproducer so as to firmly support the bracket 30. lThebracket is held in position i by means of a screw 36 which passesthrough in the bracket 30 and engages with the arm 37 and tends to pressthis arm in the direction which it will move when the floating weightreaches the end of the groove and.

' spring may be utilized, as for instance a flat spring which isconnected at 42 to the bracket 30 and which may be adjusted by means ofan adjusting screw 43. The outer end of the arm 37 has a pin orprojection 44 uhich engages with a slot 45 in one end of a lever 46which is pivoted at 47 to the bottom of the bracket 30. The lever 46projects rearwardly or is provided with a resilient contact member 48which is adapted to engage with the adjustable contact 24. This eontactis insulated from the bracket 3() by means of an insulating washer orcollarI 49.

It will be noted that the pin 44 engages withL the lever 46 at a pointwhich is nearer the pivot 47 than is the outer end of the Contact Y48 sothat the movement or the pin' will be considerably multiplied by theymovement of theA lever. The lever 46 is grounded through The 'frame ofthe machine so that a circuit is provided to the grounded side of themagnet 18'. c

wWhen the reproducer 25 reaches the end of the groove in the record theswinging weight 26 moves to the left, which causes the arm 37 to swingto the right. This movement is accentuated or made more positive by thespring 4l. This swings the lever 46 so as to bring the contact 48 intoVengagement with the terminal 34 and the circuit is closed from thebattery 22 to the magnet 18.` This will cause the magnet to attract thecatch or armature l5 and thereby release the brake lever l() whichengages with the table 7 and stops the rotation of the same., As thelever 10 swings forward, the circuit is broken by the contact 2O vmovingaway from the contact i9, which prevents unnecessary loss of current.Vhen the lever l0 is moved to its initial position and the Vreproduceris returned to operative position, the parts will be adjusted so that.it will bein position for the next operation,

as above described.

From this description it' will be seen that I 1 provide a uniqueautomatic stopping mechanism which may be readily applied to phonographsof this type and which will be substantially certain of operation.Having thus described my invention, which, however, do not wish to limitto the exact arrangement oit' parts or details of construction hereinshown and described, what l claim and desire to secure by Letters Patentis: `V

l. in electric switch member for an Edison phonograph having areproducer with a Heating weight, comprising a support, an insulatedcontact member carried by said support, and a second contact Amemberadapted to be connected with the floating weight and actuated therebyitor making Contact withl the first named contact member.

2. A switch attachment for an Edison phonograph, comprising a supportadapted to be secured to the reproducer, a contact member carried bysaid support, a second contact member adapted to Vbe connected with andactuated by the ioating weight to make Contact atY times with the firstnamed contactmember, one of said contact members being insulated and theother grounded. 3. The combination with an Edison reproducer and itsfloating weight, of a spring tending to move the floating weight out ofnormal position and in the direction which it moves when it reaches theend Vof the record groove.

4. The combination .with a reproducer Y having a floating weight, of aspring tending to swing the floating weight laterally in one direction,and an electric switch adapted to be actuated by the movement ofthefloating weight.

5. In a device of the character set forth,

the combination with a reproducer having aV floating weight, of abracket, an insulated terminal mounted in said bracket, an arm securedto the loating weight of the reproducer and a lever pivotally mounted inthe bracket, said lever having-a short end engaging` with the arm and along end forming a contact for engagement with said terminal.

ico

6. The combination with an Edison pho-V arm for swinging theV lever andthe other end adapted to make contact with said terminal.

7. The combination with a phonograph having the usual turntable andoperative parts, of anV electric stop mechanism, including an actuatingmagnet, means for grounding one terminal of the magnet, a battery, aconnection from the battery to the other terminal or' the magnet, aninsulated contact member carried by the reproduce!l and a groundedcontact member also carried by the reproducer, said contact membersbeing out of engagement when the reproducer is in normal playingposition and adapted to make contact when the reproducer reaches the endof the groove in the record.

8. n a machine of the character described, the combination of arotatable support, means for operating the same, an electric brakemechanism and a sound boX com- WILLIAM R. DUNCAN.

